CASTLE IN THE AIR DIANA WYNNE JONES PDF

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Castle in the air / by Diana Wynne Jones, p. cm. Summary: Having long indulged himself in daydreams more exciting than his mundane life as a carpet merchant. Diana Wynne Jones - Castle In The Air Diana Wynne Jones - Wizard's Castle Omnibus · Read more · Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle. Read more . Abdullah was a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer. His father, who had been disappointed in him, had left him only enough money to open a modest .

Read Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones for free with a 30 day free trial. It was a complete castle in the air, and Abdullah knew it was. Everyone told him. Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (PDF). A fast-paced and bewildering second novel in the young adult, fantasy series: How's Moving. DIANA WYNNE JONES was born in August in London, where she had a chaotic cover image of Howl's Moving Castle cover image of Castle in the Air .

It flies, said the stranger. It flies wherever the owner commands, O smallest of small minds.

A sneer made those lines deeper still. You must convince this unbeliever, he said. If the carpet can be put through its paces, O monarch of mendacity, then some bargain might be struck. At this moment one of the regular upsets happened at the fried food stall next door. Probably some street boys had tried to steal some squid. Cheating was a way of life in Zanzib. Abdullah did not allow his attention to be distracted for one instant from the stranger and his carpet.

It was quite possible the man had bribed Jamal to cause a distraction. He had mentioned Jamal rather often, as if Jamal were on his mind. Abdullah kept his eyes sternly on the tall figure of the man and particularly on the dirty feet planted on the carpet.

His alert ears even caught the words two feet upward despite the din from next door. Abdullah looked for rods underneath. He searched for wires that might have been deftly hooked to the roof.

He took hold of the lamp and tipped it about, so that its light played both over and under the carpet. The stranger stood with his arms folded and the sneer entrenched on his face while Abdullah performed these tests. Is the most desperate of doubters now convinced? Am I standing in the air, or am I not? He had to shout. The noise was still deafening from next door.

Abdullah was forced to admit that the carpet did appear to be up in the air without any means of support that he could find. Very nearly, he shouted back. The next part of the demonstration is for you to dismount and for me to ride that carpet.

The man frowned. Why so? What have your other senses to add to the evidence of your eyes, O dragon of dubiety? It could be a one-man carpet, Abdullah bawled, as some dogs are. The stranger sighed. Down, he said, and the carpet sank gently to the floor.

The stranger stepped off and bowed Abdullah toward it. It is yours to test, O sheikh of shrewdness. With considerable excitement, Abdullah stepped onto the carpet. Go up two feet, he said to it—or, rather, yelled.

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (PDF)

They were clashing weapons and bawling to be told what had happened. And the carpet obeyed Abdullah. He sat down rather hastily. The carpet was perfectly comfortable to sit on.

It felt like a very tight hammock. This woefully sluggish intellect is becoming convinced, he confessed to the stranger.

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What was your price again, O paragon of generosity? Two hundred silver?

Five hundred GOLD, said the stranger. Tell the carpet to descend, and we will discuss the matter. He bounced to his feet, and the bargaining commenced. The utmost of my purse is one hundred and fifty gold, he explained, and that is when I shake it out and feel all around the seams.

Then you must fetch out your other purse or even feel under your mattress, the stranger rejoined. For the limit of my generosity is four hundred and ninety-five gold, and I would not sell at all but for the most pressing need. I might squeeze another forty-five gold from the sole of my left shoe, Abdullah replied.

That I keep for emergencies, and it is my pitiful all. And so it went on. An hour later the stranger departed from the booth with gold pieces, leaving Abdullah the delighted owner of what seemed to be a genuine—if threadbare—magic carpet. He was still mistrustful. He did not believe that anyone, even a desert wanderer with few needs, would part with a real flying carpet—albeit nearly worn out—for less than gold pieces.

It was too useful—better than a camel, because it did not need to eat—and a good camel cost at least in gold. There had to be a catch. And there was one trick Abdullah had heard of. It was usually worked with horses or dogs. A man would come and sell a trusting farmer or hunter a truly superb animal for a surprisingly small price, saying that it was all that stood between himself and starvation.

The delighted farmer or hunter would put the horse in a stall or the dog in a kennel for the night. In the morning it would be gone, being trained to slip its halter or collar and return to its owner in the night. It seemed to Abdullah that a suitably obedient carpet could be trained to do the same. So, before he left his booth, he very carefully wrapped the magic carpet around one of the poles that supported the roof and bound it there, around and around, with a whole reel of twine, which he then tied to one of the iron stakes at the base of the wall.

Some thieving boys spilled all my squid, Jamal said. Abdullah was so pleased with his bargain that he gave Jamal two silver pieces to buy more squid. Jamal wept with gratitude and embraced Abdullah. His dog not only failed to bite Abdullah; it licked his hand. Abdullah smiled.

Castle in the Air

Life was good. He went off whistling to find a good supper while the dog guarded his booth.

When the evening was staining the sky red behind the domes and minarets of Zanzib, Abdullah came back, still whistling, full of plans to sell the carpet to the Sultan himself for a very large price indeed. He found the carpet exactly where he had left it. Or would it be better to approach the Grand Vizier, he wondered while he was washing, and suggest that the Vizier might wish to make the Sultan a present of it?

That way he could ask for even more money. At the thought of how valuable that made the carpet, the story of the horse trained to slip its halter began to nag at him again. As he got into his nightshirt, Abdullah began to visualize the carpet wriggling free. It was old and pliable. It was probably very well trained.

It could certainly slither out from behind the twine. Even if it did not, he knew the idea would keep him awake all night. In the end, he carefully cut the twine away and spread the carpet on top of the pile of his most valuable rugs, which he always used as a bed. Then he put on his nightcap—which was necessary, because the cold winds blew off the desert and filled the booth with drafts—spread his blanket over him, blew out his lamp, and slept.

He woke to find himself lying on a bank, with the carpet still underneath him, in a garden more beautiful than any he had imagined.

Learn More. Last edited by Clean Up Bot. March 31, History. Comment from Kelly Link on The Guardian: Diana Wynne Jones Close.

Cover and Details of Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones (PDF)

Time s , s , England , set in another world in the victorian era Add to List. Are you sure you want to remove Diana Wynne Jones from your list? Q Wikipedia entry. Alternative names Jones Diana W. Truly, one of the best scenes in both the book and the movie. This book is magical, because it managed to distract a four year old, a six year old, two adults in their thirties, a sixty five year old, not to mention my knees, for several hours in a tiny car on one of the hottest days of the year.

I love almost everything about this book. I love that Diana Wynne Jones thought that a romance between a spoiled, shallow drama-queen pretty boy and a feisty ninety year old woman was a great idea and that she completely made it work. I loved seeing a nineteen year old Sophie, frightened and secluded, throw off all of her fears and embrace being a ninety year old woman, ready to take on anything that got in her way.

The writing is simplistic, but the dialogue and mystery are downright elegant.You're quite the wrong shape. Anyone could come in here and surprise you as you slept. For it is the truth. He went back to his suspicions of the stranger who had sold him this carpet and to the enormous noise that just happened to break out in Jamal's stall at the precise moment when the stranger ordered the carpet to rise.

However, when they go to collect the baby, he is no longer in the inn, where he was left with the soldier.

Howl's Moving Castle

Wizards can lift spells, I suppose. The moon seemed just then to go behind a cloud because Abdullah saw her lit entirely by the lamps for a moment, golden and eager, as she ran.